Film Director Research - Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Hitchcock is one of the world's most well known directors. He has directed around 51 films. Some of his more successful films include; Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958), The Birds (1963) and Rear Window (1954). 

 Despite being one of the most successful directors, Hitchcock has never won an Oscar for Best Director, even after being nominated for the award more than 6 times. Hitchcock was Knighted by the Queen in 1979 months before his death in April 1980. Hitchcock suffered from Angina and kidney failure which resulted in his death aged 81. 

Hitchcock was known as "The Master of Suspense" which captivated his audiences through his genius plot lines and story telling. His use of "MacGuffins" throughout films such as Psycho create a diversion for the audiences attention whilst Hitchcock can begin to form more of a shocking twist in the tale that thrills and excites the audience. Hitchcock's method was "to alternate between different shots to extend cinematic time" (IMDB).By doing so, he captivated audiences through pace accompanied often with non-diegetic sounds of high strings contrasted with low brass instruments creating a perfect blend of "there could be trouble ahead". An example of this would be Hitchcock's Vertigo where James Stewart is pursuing Kim Novak throughout the movie. What immediately seems like a fairly light and airy soundtrack has an underlying tone to signify a character's hidden personality. In Stewart's case; obsession and desire. 

 Comparing Vertigo's characters to my chosen drama Secret Smile's characters, I can see a similarity between James Stewarts character and David Tennant's. Both are incredibly obsessive over the female protagonist so I feel that by incorporating some of Hitchcock's ways of creating suspense will add the thrill that I want to come across in my snippet of the programme. By adding a "Hitchcock-esk" soundtrack I believe it will aid the audience in understanding the character Brendan Block's obsession and instil the fear for Miranda's life in the audience as they see the male protagonist become more and more engrossed in her life.     

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